JAMAICANS with an interest in owning their own farms are being offered a relatively affordable opportunity to do so through Chambers Hydrofarms, a local hydroponics production company.

Abraham Neita Robertson, executive director of the eight-year-old company, told the Jamaica Observer that once a product can grow, it can no doubt flourish in the hydroponics systems they offer.

Neita Robertson said this type of farming is so easy to navigate that a lot of the people who have been purchasing farms from the company are women and/or non-farmers. One such non-farmer is international reggae/dancehall superstar Sean Paul Henriquez, who recently purchased a farm from the company.

Neita Robertson said in 2024 alone, they sold over 200 farms.

“Most of our customers are not farmers, and most of them are women. These are people who don’t have any experience in traditional farming, but they learn from us. We provide guidance and they are able to operate a farm in a very short period of time. Our systems eliminate the labour aspect of farming, so they are able to get involved in something that, before, it may have been harder to break certain barriers,” Neita Robertson shared.

He added: “Sean Paul would be one of the most notable people in recent times. There are some people we cannot speak about now, but we are in talks with some local entities that want to purchase from us. We work with the University of Technology where we are building a farm for research purposes which is sponsored by Microsoft. We have created a farm for the School for the Blind, and we also work with Food For the Poor.”

He said they are also in talks with the correctional facilities, which want to use the system to have inmates farm and also use some of the produce to offset costs.

“Big things are happening for sure. As I said, if it can grow, it can grow in the system, but certain systems would have to be built in a way to accommodate certain types of plants, like mangoes, but I am sure it can be done,” he assured.

Neita Robertson said the company started out of a dream that Olympian Ricardo Chambers had to modernise farming practices and make it easier for people to get involved. He said hydroponics farming uses a nutrient solution that is added to water, which has all the elements that exist in soil.

He said after Chambers completed horticultural studies at Florida State University, he wanted to see Jamaicans practising farming in a new way.

As such, Chambers started off by growing his own produce, and from there a few farmers took a liking to his way of doing things and wanted similar systems for themselves. That prompted him to move into selling the systems.

“We essentially run different pipes that go to the system. Seedlings are put in those pipes and water runs throughout the pipes and brings nutrient solutions to the farms. With the hydroponics system, less space is taken up. You can grow about four times as much produce in the same area as a traditional system. It takes about two times less water and each plant also has about two times more nutrients in it,“ Neita Robertson said.

“We are able to farm outside the natural elements. When there is a hurricane or drought, you can still be up and running. Water is collected and stored throughout those periods. If there is flooding during a hurricane, because the systems are raised off the ground, they don’t usually get affected. All these things lead to more sustainable farming practices. It brings young people to the table because it doesn’t use as much labour as traditional farming,” he pointed out.

After selling over 200 farms last year, Neita Robertson said a key focus this year is to connect those farmers to markets, offering them the opportunity to sell at least 1,000 pounds of produce per month.

“The farms can grow any type of produce, but right now we focus on leafy greens because it is one of the easier things to grow, so we focus mostly on lettuce, pak choi, and herbs. We have farms as small as 50 plants which costs about $50,000 and you can grow in your backyard. It is really simple. We also have a system that can grow up to 8,000 plants. We have systems in between that as well,“ Neita Robertson said.

“Our systems essentially bring nutrients that are found in soil directly to the plant. One thing as well is when you are farming traditionally [in the ground], sometimes you would realise that if you are doing lettuce, for example, each lettuce head would be different because the nutrients in the ground are not spread to each plant individually. In our systems, each plant gets targeted. We have lettuce heads that are as big as two pounds per head.”